Monday, October 30, 2006

Dexter (on Showtime) has got to be one of the best shows on TV right now. I'm certainly looking forward to it more than Lost right now. At least the plot moves on Dexter. Lost seems to be... well... lost. Dexter, while definitely not for the faint of heart, is not nearly as graphically gory and violent as it could be, given that it's a show on pay cable about a serial killer. Dexter Morgan works by day for the Miami Police Department as a forensic blood expert. To his sister (they were both adopted), his other co-workers (including his sis), and is girlfriend (beaten and raped by her former drug-dealing boyfriend - and consequently "in her own way, just as damaged" as he is), he seems perfectly normal. He helps his sister's career by hiving her fantastic insights to a rival serial killer's behavior, which she contributes to his fantastic "hunches." His inability to feel normal emotions, and thus a lack of sex drive, comes across to his frigid girlfriend as a wonderful sensitivity to her reluctance to engage in sexual activity with him due to her abusive ex. His deep interest in violent crime scenes comes across as dedication to his job to all his co-workers, except macho shithead Sgt. Doakes, who finds Dexter creepy. His boss, Lt. Maria La Guerta, on the other hand, thinks Dexter is just dreamy and hits on him whenever she can. If only she knew. Most interesting are the flashbacks to Dexter's youth. His father was a cop named Harry, played by James Remar, who adopted Dexter and Debra. Harry realizes from an early age that Dexter has a nearly uncontrollable urge to kill. At first, he tries to direct Dexter's urges into hunting. When he realizes that killing deer won't satisfy his son's compulsion, he begins to train Dexter how to identify and kill the "right" people and, using his training as a cop, how to get away with it. He teaches Dexter how to verify that the person deserves death (e.g., they have murdered, escaped on a technicality and will kill again), obsessively, ritualistically prepare for the abduction and killing, and how to dispose of the body. I know it all sounds a bit dark, but it is really one of the best written shows on TV right now. Filled with dark humor and quirky situations, I highly recommend it (if you have the stomach)!

Friday, October 27, 2006

So Jason Campbell has practiced for two days. Does this mean Gibbs is pulling Brunell? I doubt it. Brunell has some sore ribs after Sundays beating in Indianapolis. I'd be willing to bet he sits out some more practices, but plays against Dallas a week from Sunday. Look at what he did against Jax after he sat out. Actually, I should say look at what he did against Jax after he sat out and Clinton Portis got his run on. Which begs the question, why won't the coaches run Portis more? I asked this question before and have yet to see a reasonable explanation. All during last year's run to the playoffs, everyone kept saying we were playing better because we had re-dedicated ourselves to the run. So why aren't we doing that now, when we're struggling? Argh! Example: in our two wins against Houston and Jacksonville, Portis and Betts had a combined 70 rushes! That's 35 per game average! Against the Colts, who incidentally had the worst run defense in the league, 22. Portis, who ran a record 1,516 yards last year on 352 carries rushed twelve times. Twelve... In the whole game! He should be doing at least that every half! *sigh* I just hope Gibbs & Co. can pull it together before the whole season goes by and we're sitting at 2-14.

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Chrissy and I got to visit last night with my old high school friend, Katy, and her three children. We missed her husband, Geoff, who had to return to England before we were able to get over there. By "old," I mean we've known each other for 24 years, not that she's old & decrepit. In any case, she's visiting from England for the first time in 3 years or so, and had about one free night left. We went over after work to her mother's house in Laurel. It's amazing to see how much her kids have grown in such a short time! I've seen pictures on her blog, but it's not the same as seeing them in person. Alex, her youngest and her only son, warmed up to me first as we were eating pizza. We had a nice little talk about pizza crust (which is the only part he likes) and I guess he decided that I was ok. Once Olivia (the middle child - it was her 7th birthday) saw that Alex was talking to me, she decided she could talk to me. And then, when Sarah saw Olivia and Alex talking to me, she figured I was ok, too. Naturally, they took to Chrissy the moment we walked in as if they had known her all of their short lives. In any case, all three children are adorable and we had a lovely time.

Katy gave us an incredible wedding gift, too. I had forgotten she does quilting as a hobby and she made us a very nice quilt.

She didn't make the individual squares, but as I understand it, she obtained all of them through trade with other quilters for squares that she did make. So in essence, all the squares used in the quilt are a direct result of her hard work. So, we had a great time. Hopefully, it won't be another three years or more before we see her again! More than once, the topic of our flying to England was brought up. That would be nice...

Monday, October 23, 2006

I saw this on Celebritology this morning and haven't stopped smiling about it yet! Brought back memories of Captain 20, Ultraman, Bozo, and Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot. The best part is that Chrissy now knows what I'm talking about when I say, "Nobody bothers me! Nobody bothers me, either!" She still thinks I'm crazy, but whatchoo gonna do?

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Ok, so the Redskins are now 2-4. Despite this, and in addition to my love for Clinton Portis, I now have love for Santana Moss. During the Skins' pathetic loss to the previously-winless Titans, the fans began chanting Jason Campbell's name and booing Mark Brunell. In response, Santana Moss said, "If you're going to be with us, be with us. Don't cheer one minute for the person, then boo him as soon as he has a couple of miscues or you feel like something's not going his way." As great as Skins' fans are, they are so fickle. I know the first impulse when a team is struggling is to blame the QB, but come on. Saunders only runs Portis 14 times?? WTF? Since the beginning of the Skins' 5-game run to the playoffs last year, all I heard was how when we commit to the run, we win. During those games, Portis averaged 26 carries per game. We struggled through the preseason and the first two games without him, then won 2 games (including Jax) when he came back. 14?? My theory, such as it is, is that Portis' shoulder was bothering him again. I mentioned to Chrissy during the game that he wasn't getting the ball very often and, when he was, he was running to the left a lot. I wouldn't be surprised if he confessed to the coaches before the game that he was sore and needed some rest before the Colts game this week, so they went easy on him. Even with that, though, what about Betts? Sellers? Duckett?? We trade a 3rd round pick for him and he's got 5 carries in 1 game? Ok, enough ranting. The point of all this, besides just getting something written down since I've been so lazy with blogging lately, is that I love me some Santana. Not that there's anything wrong with that...